Independent

More enviably entertaining, inventive stuff from Mr Cryptica. There’s plenty to admire here as always, with 21A and 20D being the standouts for me. Across 1 FLIP-FLOP – A pair of double defs … Read more >>

I found this trickier than usual, solving time, 26 mins.   RHS much harder than LHS * = anagram   < = reversed ACROSS 1 SON A TA 4 S (MASH) HIT  (this)* 9 O … Read more >>

Not too difficult, I found, solving time 22 mins. * = anagram    < = reversed ACROSS 1 OPUS     hidden 4 Long John SILVER WAR E 10 LE AN-T O    Collins confirms it can … Read more >>

One or two that I can’t understand, but plenty of nice clues today. No doubt there is a Nina staring me in the face, but apart from several references to pans and to cakes I … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def A topical, Oscar-themed puzzle which I found quite enjoyable but may not be to the taste of non-film buffs, especially since some of the films referenced were … Read more >>

A tougher Phi than usual, I thought. A nice easy hidden reversal to start, but I struggled with the rest of the across clues on my first run through. The down clues were … Read more >>

An excellent themed puzzle for Valentine’s Day where the keyword – HEART – was unclued and appeared, appropriately, in the middle of the grid. Across 8 SA(CRE)D 9 STUN,TM,[-?]AN – not sure what … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. This was interesting. We haven’t seen a weekday Tees puzzle for some time, and I certainly have never blogged one. I really struggled to get … Read more >>

I found this a little harder than usual, solving time 27 mins. * = anagram ACROSS 5 P(L)EASANT 9 HAM PER 10 MARK ET 11 A NOR (E XI)A 12 HURSTPIERPOINT (support in … Read more >>

As always, a high Dac standard, although today I found more to raise an eyebrow at than usual. Across 1 S(OUR)CREAM 6 P(L)AID 9 LoOkS wEaRy 10 ROOMMATES — OM in (are most)* … Read more >>

I found this very hard, but got there in the end, solving time, 63 mins. There are a few that I do not fully understand, though. * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone After a lot of quite difficult puzzles recently, it was nice to have something relatively straightforward. I even had time to look for the NINA, which appears across the … Read more >>

I could not finish this, essentially because I’d never heard of the 39 letter phrase at the heart of  the puzzle.    However, as it bounces up on Google, I may be in a … Read more >>

Across 6 hidden reversed in “lIETh” 7 ROB in SINS in NORM< – MRS ROBINSON. Credit where it’s due – Mrs Dubya got this one. 10 A in RODS in BIDE – BROADSIDE. … Read more >>

It’s been fairly hard to avoid the fact that 2009 is the bicentenary of Charles Darwin’s birth, but the fact that the actual day is Feb 12th must have passed me by as … Read more >>